Faithful
by Desert Starr
Summary: Annette Birkin is caught between the man she married for love, and the man who can actually give her what she thinks she needs.


Albert ignored the movement in his peripheral vision, and remained focused on the computer screen in front of him. Whatever it was William wanted, he would have to ask.

The younger researcher sidled up to his partner and stood a beat at his elbow. When Albert remained unmoved, Will cleared his throat. "Al, I need to talk to you."

"Haven't I told you not to call me that?" was the flat response.

"Fine, _Albert;_ I need your advice."

"It would behoove you not to sneer at me if you really want my help," Albert drawled, still without moving.

William glowered. "How could you tell I was sneering, you didn't even look at me!"

"Even if I hadn't been able to see you in the corner of my eye, you just confirmed what you were doing." An ironic little smirk tugged at one corner of Albert's mouth.

"Ugh! Why do I even bother coming to you for help? All you ever do is antagonize me." After tossing his arms up in frustration, Will crossed them over his chest and turned to leave the room.

"You make it far too easy. What is it you need?" Albert finally stepped back from the computer and faced the other researcher, leaning one hip against the counter.

William stopped, turned back, and sighed. "It's Annette. She's been acting weird lately. I think she's mad at me, but I can't figure out why."

_That could be because you have no social skills to speak of_, Albert considered. Instead of voicing that comment, he said, "Then talk to her. Ask her why she's upset." William was not the best communicator, even disregarding his inability to read non-verbal cues.

"I've tried that! But when I ask, she just says 'Oh, it's nothing,' and won't tell me anything!" The gaunt man fisted his hands in his hair in frustration. "It's driving me crazy! You have to talk to her, Albert. You're so much better with people, you can figure out what's wrong."

"I'm not a marriage counselor, Will," Albert snapped. "Can't the two of you make it through a full year without a breakdown?" They had only dated for a few months before tying the knot, and the ink was barely dry on the documents as it was. Albert had known – and told them – that they had made a risky decision.

There it went, William's kicked puppy expression. "I know you think Annie and I rushed into this, but I really need your help. I don't know what to do."

A moment's contemplation of Will's pleading look told Albert all he needed to know. Will wouldn't let this go, and if whatever problems he was having with his wife continued, it would probably affect his work performance. Albert was not interested in dodging the sad puppy eyes any longer than he had to.

"Fine, I will talk to her," he sighed. "But don't expect a miracle."

* * *

When Annette entered the lab later that day, she hooked her arm around William's and informed him that they were going to dinner, then home. He protested that they were running a very delicate test on the new C-series strains, and he couldn't possibly leave their assistants to run it alone. Albert stepped up to offer himself as her ride and dinner companion. She accepted, and they rode the Ecliptic from the Arklay lab to its terminal just outside of Raccoon. From there they rode in Albert's car to their destination: a newly opened Thai restaurant.

Once they were settled in their booth, a glass of wine in Annette's hand and a vodka tonic in Albert's, Annette sighed deeply. She took a long sip of her drink.

He tipped his glass to her ironically. "Long day?"

"Long week. Long _month_." She shook her head. "I should be used to it by now, though."

"Are you talking about work or about William?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Both, I suppose, for different reasons."

He invited her to elaborate with a wordless gesture of his hand.

"Work is exhausting, especially with you and Will for slavedrivers – I mean, supervisors." When he rewarded her quip with a smirk, Annette continued, "But like I said, I'm used to it by now. It's just some personal drama happening on top of it that makes me want to crawl into a bottle of Jack and never come out."

At that moment, their orders arrived. Once their plates were arranged and Annette ordered another glass of wine, Albert prompted, "And what of the personal drama?"

"I shouldn't even call it drama. It's just Will being Will."

"You mean being infuriating."

"Not even that," she began, but when Albert raised his eyebrows skeptically, she sighed and admitted, "Okay, yes. But I can't really blame him for being that way."

There was a strange undercurrent to Annette's words that had him curious. He suspected that she was not referring to the usual complaints tendered by those who interacted a lot with William. "To what are you referring, specifically?"

"Oh, just..." Annette found something on her plate fascinating for a moment too long. Whatever it was, she didn't want to talk about it.

Albert leaned back a little in his seat. "It's probably none of my business. But earlier today, William all but begged me to find out what's been bothering you."

"Of course," she chuckled. Annette pushed the curry around on her plate. "It's not the kind of thing that's possible to talk through, though I do appreciate your concern."

No talking through it? That was an sign of impending marital doom, if Albert was any judge. Since she seemed reticent about going further on the subject, he dropped it, and moved the conversation to lighter topics. They chatted companionably until they had finished eating. When the server brought their check, Annette started to ask him to split it, but before she could Albert stuck his credit card into the leather folder and held it back out to the server. He waved away her attempted protest.

The drive to the small house she and William rented was a quiet one. Along the way Annette began to regret drinking so much wine. She rested her heated face against the cool glass of the window. With Will she would have moderated herself, but since Albert was driving regardless, she had indulged. In a way, she was glad he had been there. Albert wasn't always the easiest person to be around, but she had noticed that he loosened up in a non-work setting, and even allowed himself to be pleasant. He certainly behaved the consummate gentleman, whether it came naturally or it was merely so ingrained by early training that he did it regardless. It was hard to say; the man was inscrutable, and very private.

"What's on your mind?" He spoke the question so softly that it didn't seem to break the silence between them, just to weave itself in with the gentle hum of the engine.

Annette took a moment to reply. She knew the half-formed thoughts bouncing around in her head would harass her until they found an outlet, but she feared their revelation. So instead of giving them voice, she went with another one. "I'm just trying to figure out how you haven't settled down yet. I don't know a single woman who wouldn't be taken in, if you decided to turn on the charm. I've seen you do it, too. You make it look effortless."

"Effortless, hm?" he snorted. "I can find sexual partners when I want them, yes, but the trappings of a romantic relationship never appealed to me."

Of course. Annette couldn't suppress a chuckle. "I thought as much. You know a good several people at work think you're gay because you're never seen with a woman."

Though he kept his eyes on the road, one thin eyebrow climbed up Albert's forehead. "I was aware. And as far as I am concerned, they can think whatever they please. I know what I like, and that's all that matters." That was as close to indignant as Annette had ever heard him.

"What do you like, then?" It was the wine that made her bold enough to ask that, she was sure.

The sound of the engine and wheels became uncomfortably loud in the silence that ensued. It stretched on for long enough that Annette came to regret asking. Then, at last: "Why do you ask?" His voice was deceptively quiet, and that was somehow worse than if he had shouted.

Annette was unsure how to respond. She had not expected that particular reaction, and it was several moments before she could frame her reply. "Oh, it's just the wine talking. Ignore my stupid comments," she finally said, and to her own ears, it was a shaky excuse indeed.

"Annette, don't try to play that game with me. You're not a good enough liar." By then they had reached the house, and as he said this, Albert turned in the seat to look at her. In the half-light of the streetlamp, without his sunglasses to obscure his water-toned eyes, the scrutiny was doubly unnerving.

Annette scrambled to undo her seatbelt and get out of the car. She had shoved her foot far enough down her throat for one night. But he was not going to let her off that easily, and appeared beside her to escort her to the front door. He stood on the lower step while she sought for the housekey in her purse.

"Are you going to answer me?" he asked just as she turned the key in the deadbolt.

Hell, he had probably already pieced together enough to figure it out. The damn man could all but read minds. Annette turned to face him. "Will is impotent. I love him, I do, with all my heart, but he just can't be everything I need. He said before he wanted to hold out until marriage, and I thought he was just being traditional, but... And he already spends so much time at work, and he never has any energy when he does come home..." The words all came in a rush, tumbling and tripping over each other in their haste to be out in the open.

"So you're applying to me to give you what William can't," Albert finished for her. He stated this as fact, not a question, and with the same careful neutrality as before. However, there was the barest edge of condescension that was unmistakable.

Instead of quailing again, Annette drew herself up and faced him firmly. "I'm not betraying him. It's not his fault, and I'm not running off because of it. I'm only trying to make up for a lack he can't help having."

Their eyes met, and she held them with a forceful conviction that she wished she could feel. The longer he took to reply, the more she worried he had seen through it; he would laugh at her, he would leave and tell Will his wife was a cheating whore...

A slow smile she had never seen on Albert's face before appeared. "Oh Annette," he said, prowling up the final step until he loomed over her. "You do like rushing into these things, don't you?" Before she could reply, or even think about his statement, he had pulled her flush with his body and crushed their mouths together.

On instinct Annette laced her hands in his hair and parted her lips. For a moment, while he slid his tongue along the ridges of her hard palette, she abandoned thought. It was easy to lose herself in the way he gripped the back of her neck and lower back – demanding, and on the edge of painful when he pulled her head back to delve farther into her mouth.

His teeth pulling at her lower lip brought Annette back in time to hear him say, "If we don't go inside soon, someone might see us." His voice now seemed to come straight from the depths of his chest, and went directly to the pit of her belly, where all the muscles tightened in resonance.

She was hyper-aware of his presence behind her while she entered the house and went to pull her jacket off. He stopped her and did it himself, raising gooseflesh on her skin wherever he touched, and urged her down the hall with a swat on the backside that was just a little too hard to be playful. She paused at the door to the bedroom, however, struck with the thought of doing what she was about to do on the bed she shared with William.

His hands smoothed across her waist and hips, pulling her against him. "Having second thoughts?" he murmured, lips at her ear.

It was difficult to think properly when he took her earlobe in his mouth and sucked. "I didn't think you would respond like this," she admitted. Her experience with men had not been spectacular up to then, for in college she had mostly dated men who did not know the meaning of "foreplay." So Albert's predatory seduction was, to say the least, unexpected. And damn if it wasn't effective; she was already wet, and he had barely touched her.

The chuckle that rumbled up his throat raised the hair on her neck. "This is what you wanted," he reminded her. He pulled his hands up her sides, around her shoulder blades, and down her arms until they curved over hers, gripping the door frame. "Are you going to go in?"

She did, if only to escape the skin-crawling sensation of his breath tickling her scalp. As before, he stopped her from fumbling with the buttons of her blouse and removed it himself. In turn, she opened his shirt and pushed both it and the undershirt off his upper body. She'd had no idea he worked out, but the hard lines of toned muscle on his chest and abdomen stood testament to that very fact. But she had no time to appreciate it, for he guided her backwards, then pushed her onto the bed. His knees landed on either side of her hips.

Annette splayed her hands across the firm ridges of his abs and traced the contours of each muscle. He trapped one of her hands flat with his own, and pushed them down until she could wrap her fingers around the hard length tenting the seat of his slacks. She needed no further urging to undo his belt, pop the button, and pull the zipper down tauntingly slowly. She felt his eyes burning into her, watching intently as she pushed her palm against him and squeezed through his boxers.

He slid backwards off the bed to discard the slacks and boxers, then just as quickly returned, moving over her with swift, lithe movements. He stopped halfway up her body for a beat. Without warning he clutched her thighs with both hands, and his mouth descended on her belly. He flicked open the clasp of her skirt, and when her back arched off the bed, he slid the garment off. Her undergarments soon followed suit, and Albert continued trailing his teeth and tongue across the sensitive skin of her stomach and breasts.

Annette gasped and stuttered out a soft "Oh," when two fingers dipped past her outer labia and stroked her. Swirling around the hard nub of her clitoris pulled another groan up her throat; he chuckled into her ear. "Mm, you are very wet. I take it you're enjoying this?"

In response, she fisted her hand in his hair and pulled his mouth down onto hers. She coaxed him to open his mouth, and while her tongue probed the inside of his mouth, his fingers slid down and into her. He swallowed the moan she released when he curled his fingers against the inner wall of her vagina. When he withdrew, she growled and nipped his lower lip.

"Patience. Where are the condoms?" he chided.

"I'm on the pill," Annette huffed. She gave him a shove to push him onto his back.

He grabbed her wrists and twisted, pinning her arms above her head and her legs spread around his knees. Albert mantled over her. "You don't want to play that game with me. Not this time." Only when she relaxed under him did he move. He speared into her with one sharp thrust.

Annette hissed at the sharp pinching sensation. It had been a long time since she had been penetrated, and her body was not used to being filled so. She dug her nails into his biceps to make him stop.

Braced on his elbows, Albert released a deep breath; he cupped her cheek in one hand and held her eyes until he felt her relax again. "Are you all right now?"

"Yes. Just take it easy at first."

He pulled out, then pushed in slowly, angling his hips. A soft moan fluttered in her throat. She tipped her head back, but Albert brought her back. "Keep your eyes open, Annette. I want you to look at me." When she looked up at him, he wore a cruel smirk. "Good girl. No looking away and pretending Will is the one fucking you."

Just as those harsh words hit like a punch to the gut, he bucked into her hard and quick. He alternated between slow, deep thrusts that somehow touched all the sensitive spots she had, and brutally hard pounding that rocked her whole body. The whole time he kept her gaze transfixed by his. At first she wanted to squirm, wanted to look away, but eventually she succumbed to the hypnotic stare. It just made every jolt of liquid fire pooling in the pit of her belly that much more intense.

"Say my name when you come," he ground out when he felt her body bowing under him.

Her orgasm built for a small, agonizing eternity, before crashing hard, and the world fell away. She heard herself groan his name as if from a distance. Pleasure washed through her over and over, nearly overwhelming, until Albert snapped his hips forward. He growled against her neck and rode his orgasm out with sharp, bucking thrusts.

Annette ran her hands up and down Albert's sweat-slick back. He settled on his elbows, face pillowed between her breasts, after pulling out. For a long moment, their labored breath was the only sound in the dimly lit room. When was the last time she had come like that? Annette couldn't remember. Certainly it hadn't been through penetration by the oafs she used to date. She basked for the short window of time they were both still.

Soon, though, Albert stirred. He pushed himself up and off the bed. Annette pushed herself up to watch him move about the room, reassembling his clothes. Disappointment soured the last of the afterglow, though she honestly had no reason to expect anything else. Why should he stay and cuddle, or at least lie with her a while?

As she went about telling herself not to be silly, Albert's face came into view. He leaned over the bed and, smoothing away strands of sweaty hair, dropped a kiss on her brow. "Good night, Annette. I'll send William home when I get to the lab."

The smug edge in his words sent a jolt through her, propelling her to sit upright. "Don't you dare tell him anything!"

"I wouldn't dream of it. You should probably air out the sheets before he gets home, though." A wicked smirk teased his mouth as he turned to leave.

* * *

**AN:** yep, Wesker is A Huge Asshole.

It didn't surprise me to find only one actually good fic written with Annette as a main character. In the canon she's pretty much overshadowed by William and Sherry, and isn't all that important. However, since I have a habit of reading too far into things that don't actually matter, I've always wondered how the hell she had that happy loving relationship with her family up to the very end. It never made sense to me. So that's why this is a thing. That and I am shameless about writing porn.

I am also incapable of finishing anything I start so even though I have an idea of where this could go, don't expect much. I learned my lesson about making promises for updates.


End file.
